On Tuesday night, Aug. 21, Lori and I were invited to do a podcast with Chris Pope, social media manager for the Guys from Andromeda Space Venture. We talked for about 75 minutes. You can find link’s to the podcast here.

Much of the discussion was about the making of Quest for Glory and tales about Sierra On-line. We have fun talking about our experiences, and the memories come rushing back. Chris did a great job as host, so we were able to share some of those old memories.

“You don’t have a game until all the pieces are there. It takes a good game design, it takes great storytelling, puzzles, wonderful graphics, and great music. The voice acting adds another layer, and when you have everything working together, that’s when you look back on having worked two or three years of twelve hour days and six- or seven-day weeks… and think, ‘You know? Maybe it was worth it.’” – Corey

That Was Then, This is Now

At the end of the talk (about 47 minutes in), Chris asked us about our current plans and the upcoming School for Heroes game. Lori started it off by saying, “Basically, the stars are aligning.” When we left Sierra in the late 90’s, the industry had shifted entirely over to first-person shooters, and publishers had no interest in making story-oriented games.

Now the tools are better, so games can be made for more reasonable budgets, and Kickstarter makes publisher-free funding possible. As a result, Lori and I started dipping our toes back into the game development water by doing some contract design work. We also had many fans asking us, “When are you going to do your Kickstarter?” and several developers saying, “We want to work with you on a game.” Suddenly the impossible began to seem possible again.

What’s It All About, Alfie?

Our new School for Heroes game is most definitely notQuest for Glory, but it has a few elements in common. We are once again reaching back into our tabletop D&D roots to make a game that combines role-playing with story and strong character interactions.

This time, the emphasis is on the role-playing. The School for Heroes will be a 2D game with two distinct parts – In the school and beneath it in the catacombs. The latter part is an old-fashioned “dungeon crawl” with tactical combat similar to Fallout 2 or Dungeonmaster. Your character will explore the catacombs to solve mysteries, fight monsters, and acquire money and equipment.

Back in school, you will improve your skills and learn how to be a Hero and a better adventurer. You are also competing against other students and trying to survive hostile instructors. Getting to know the other students and weave your way through social interaction is just as important as your schoolwork and “dungeon time”. If you’ve played Persona 2, you’ll have a feel for that part of the game, although we will give you far more choices.

We plan to develop the game in several phases. In the first scenario, you will play a Rogue. For you, the school is more like a reform school, and most of your instructors treat you like a prisoner. You need to find a way to improve your skills, and at the same time, you learn what it means to be a Hero. And it’s a good thing, because you’ll need both sides to survive.

When you come back to the game in the second scenario (as a Wizard), you’ll be in the same setting, but playing an entirely different game. The dialogue, story, and your abilities are all new. In the third scenario, you take on the role of a Warrior, and once again playing a completely different version of the story. We also plan to include the Paladin scenario in the third release, but only players who have completed at least one of the other character stories will be able to unlock and play it.

Of course, there will also be plenty of our trademark humor. After all, even great dramas usually include humor to release the tension occasionally. Our goal is to make games that are at least as fun as Quest for Glory or Castle of Dr. Brain. But we also want to make sure that every game is a new experience. Every time we make a game, we ask, “Would we enjoy playing this?” If the answer is “Uh, maybe,” we do something else.

Enjoy the podcast, and we hope all of you will join us in November on our Kickstarter Adventure!

It did the same thing with my smilies too. Oh well, I wouldn’t worry too much.

Posted: August 30th, 2012

Wayland Says:

Hmmm it put the smilies in funky places.

Posted: August 30th, 2012

Wayland Says:

Well, Corey reminded me this time, by linking the blog and surprising me that he is in my former WoW guild. I used to use reader consistently but somewhere along the way I stopped that too. :P. I’ll just keep checking back. And with consistent content and e-mail replies I should be good going forward.

I subscribe to my favorite blogs with the RSS buttons and Google Reader. That way, I can read a series of different blogs about the same subject like “Photography” or “Geeky” when I’m in the proper mood to appreciate them. Besides, it keeps me from having to do like you did with our blog… keep checking the site in the hopes that something has changed.

But thanks for Caring enough to come back for a visit!

Posted: August 30th, 2012

Wayland Says:

“We are making a serious effort to put out at least one blog entry – and preferably several – every week.” ~does a little dance~

Now I know I need to check back consistently, rather than checking back…no new content…checking back….no new contenet…forgetting to check back…months pass…remembering to check back.

We are making a serious effort to put out at least one blog entry – and preferably several – every week. I have a list of articles to write… and one finished one that unfortunately needs to be postponed for a while. But we’ll never run out as long as that one is in the queue.